Founder Bak Kut Teh @ Balestier

The fams pop by Founder for a late lunch and we discovered we were the last customers they allowed in before closing for their afternoon break. Who knew Chinese restaurants close for lunch break as well? 

Call me a noob but I never knew Balestier road had that many Bak Kut Teh shops. I reckon Founder should be pretty good as the entire shop was donned with pictures and pictures of the owner and famous Hong kong/ Taiwan/ Korea/ Singapore celebrity. Our food came promptly and was surprise to find the soup looking a little bland. I don't know about you but I judge my Bak Kut Teh experience mainly on its broth. My last encounter with Bak Kut Teh was in JB, at a small street stall. The soup was thick, herb-y and pack with flavours from the pork bones; at that moment I swore it was the best Bak Kut Teh I ever tasted. 

However,  I was secretly wishing Founder would be more awesome as Balestier is way nearer than JB. I took a spoonful of the broth and yes it tasted as bland as it looked. There were no signs of any herbs or pork essence; it tasted more like pepper + water. I thought the pork ribs was nicely cooked though. I like my pork to be lean and soft and the pork served did fulfill both criteria. I was beginning to wonder whether the photos were photoshopped, as I was slurping down the aw-so bland soup.

On to the other dishes, the Tau Pok was alittle too salty for my liking. I had no idea why my mum order Pork Trotters as none of us enjoy eating the layers of fats. I didn't get to taste the Pork Trotters as the meat was meagre. I think only Founder can unhealthify a vegetable dish. Not only were their salted vegetables way way way too oily, their choy sum was covered with cubes of golden deep fried lard! OMG. Food for thought: Which is a bigger sin? not serving vegetables? or serving vegetables with tons of lard?

From Top Left Clockwise: Tau Kwa, Choy Sum, BKT, Pork Trotters and Salted Vegetables

Founder did not impress and I really can't seem to comprehend how they achieved their fame. No offense but I think any random Bak Kut Teh stall in Malaysia would beat Founder hands down. Hey! even my mum's Bak Kut Teh would own Founder, just sayin~

Update: Just found out there's a difference between Teochew and Hokkien BKT, guess Teochew BKT ain't for me.